Businessman and National Resistance Movement (NRM) Entrepreneurs League chairperson, Hassan Basajjabalaba, has urged the government to prioritise a national medical insurance scheme instead of spending taxpayers’ money on the Parish Development Model (PDM).
Speaking on Saturday last week during the burial of his mother, Azidah Basajjabalaba, in Katungu Cell, Ishaka Division, Bushenyi-Ishaka Municipality, Mr Basajjabalaba said Uganda urgently needs a functional medical insurance system to serve ordinary citizens.
‘What I witnessed while treating my mother in Germany, spending 220,000 Euros, almost Shs1b, a common person cannot afford that. I went to Germany 10 times, the UK five times, and South Africa five times. Altogether, that is about $6m. A common man cannot manage that,’ he said.
Mr Basajjabalaba added: ‘I want the President to help us pass medical insurance. In Germany, a person can fall sick, but insurance handles the costs. MPs who are here, when it comes to medical insurance, we are all illiterate. No country functions without medical insurance.’
He urged Ugandans to advocate for a medical insurance system that can save lives.
‘Let us strike for insurance. I beg you, Mr Speaker, if my mother had insurance, I would be paying only about 40 percent of the bill. Tanzania has insurance, people above 70, children aged one to nine, and expectant mothers are treated free of charge,’ he said.
Benefits of medical insurance
Mr Basajjabalaba said many Ugandans are now seeking dual citizenship because they fear high medical expenses at home.
He said once medical insurance is established, the private sector will confidently invest in modern health equipment, knowing they can recover their investments.
‘There is equipment we cannot bring into the country because a common Ugandan cannot afford its services. For instance, the PET scan, worth $9m, is only available at Aga Khan Hospital in East Africa. No one will invest $9m without assurance of returns. Even governments in Kenya and Tanzania have failed to procure it, and I don’t think we shall manage soon.’
Mr Basajjabalaba further argued that for Uganda’s health sector to improve, government must collaborate with private providers rather than relying on public hospitals alone.
‘Government cannot manage hospitals. When I say this, people call me Opposition, yet I am a member of the NRM CEC. The best hospitals worldwide are private. You cannot expect government to run the very best facilities.’
He attributed the inefficiencies in government facilities to equipment maintenance challenges, among others.
He proposed that government significantly invest in the three major faith-based hospitals, Nsambya (Catholic), Mengo (Anglican), and Kibuli (Muslim), to improve national healthcare. Mr Basajjabalaba criticised the PDM, saying it has not yielded tangible benefits for ordinary Ugandans.
‘Why put money into PDM only for people to share Shs1m each? Really, how can someone start a business with Shs1m? They will simply spend the money. In my little knowledge, PDM may not work.’
The Deputy Speaker of Parliament, Mr Thomas Tayebwa, who represented President Museveni, agreed that medical insurance has been delayed and is urgently needed.
‘Medical insurance, I agree with you. We are late. Because when we die, we all go in the same coffins. We must ensure that medical insurance is addressed quickly. We need it, and we need it very fast,’ he said.